


forget-Me-Nots and other Promises

by Current_Queen_Of_Hell



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, just one or two years, slightly aged up characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 05:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20402455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Current_Queen_Of_Hell/pseuds/Current_Queen_Of_Hell
Summary: Nico saw the boy for the first time standing in front of a slot machine looking disappointed and confused. Then they left. After that it all went to shit.or: the story rewritten how it would've been if Leo and Nico had met at the Lotus Casinotitle may change





	1. Centuries

**Author's Note:**

> Basic things so this makes sense:  
-Leo was born in 1959 and went to the Casino in 1971  
-he got the tool belt from his mom not from wherever he gets it in the book
> 
> the characters are slightly, just a bit, older than in canon  
I'll be writing the ages here whenever they change and are not explicitly mentioned in the chapter:  
Ages:  
Leo: 12  
Nico: 9  
Bianca: 13
> 
> Comments, kudos etc are always appreciated thank you for giving this a chance!

The bright casino lights made Nico’s eyes hurt more than he was ready to admit. Around him the machines flickered, signaling someone was winning. Nico had never played anything himself, at least not at any of the machines. He’d play mythomagic with Bianca but that was about it.

Now that he thought about it, where was Bianca? She’d promised to come find him when she was finished getting ready in their room. He’d insisted that he could go on his own since he was 9 years old now after all; he was no small child anymore. She’d laughed and told him to wait near the food court.

He was about to go looking for her when he saw people crowding around one of the machines. He got up to see what was going on, if he was lucky it would be his sister. It was not. Instead, it was a small boy, only a few years older than Nico. He had messy dark brown hair and tan skin that was covered in moles and freckles. His eyes were focused on the game in front of him. Nico realized that the boy was beating the current high-score by a lot. Nico grew curious of the boy, wanting a friend his age. So when the screen turned an aggressive red and the machine started blaring loud music, the boy’s shoulders dropped and he stared at the screen in defeat. The adults around them laughed and left soon after. The boy, however, did not. He just kept standing there, looking like the world had ended.

“How? I rigged it… how did I lose?” He whispered and Nico barely heard him.

“That was really cool!” Nico beamed and the boy turned to him. He was a little taller than Nico but not much. The boy grinned brightly.

“You think?”

“Yeah! I’ve never seen anyone get that far,” The fact that the boy had an equally strong accent as Nico did make Nico feel less bad about himself. It was silly, but he enjoyed not being the only to not speak a language perfectly.

The boy stuck his hand out, “I’m supersized Mcshizzle, Leo Valdez!”

“I’m Nico.” He didn’t say much but Leo made up for it. They quickly fell into easy conversation. Well mainly, Leo but it was fine. Leo told him how he’d rigged the machine and Nico told him all sorts of facts about Pirates. Nico found that he was enjoying himself for the first time in what felt like forever.

“Nico! Where were you? I was looking everywhere for you!” The sudden sound of his sister’s voice stopped their conversation. Leo looked panicked for a second but quickly calmed down when he realized that the girl must be Nico’s sister.

“I was just telling Leo about mythomagic! He says he’ll play with me, isn’t that cool?” He asked grinning from ear to ear. Her expression softened for a second but then hardened again when she looked at Leo. In all fairness, Leo was used to such looks. Looks of people deciding he was trouble even before he said something.

“Where are your parents?”

“Here, there, I dunno. They kinda come and go.”

“Where are they now?”

“At home. Probably having dinner or something.” At that her eyes softened. Nico could tell that that had struck a nerve with her. She smiled and bent down a little to be eye to eye with Leo.

“Then why don’t you come get food with us? Nico and I were thinking of going over to that Mexican restaurant.”

And so Nico, Bianca and, their new friend ended up going to the cheap Mexican restaurant. They sat around a small table that was definitely not meant for three people but it was the only free one and Nico and Bianca were used to being close to each other. Nico quickly found out that Leo spoke almost as much with his hands as he did with his mouth when Nico almost got hit in the face.

It was comforting, to have someone other than his sister with whom he could talk. Someone who was closer in age, even just by one year compared to Bianca but still. She was always busy with keeping them alive after all. Leo however, always had time for Nico. When Nico wanted to play mythomagic at 5 in the morning, Leo would be awake and willing to learn. When Nico wanted to go explore the Casino and babble about Pirates, well Leo would be there and, in turn tell him about space. And, on the occasion that Nico had a nightmare and Bianca was too tired to help, Leo would immediately come and talk until Nico fell asleep. Even when Bianca had the rare nightmare Leo would come. He was a surprisingly good singer they soon found out. He would sing them Spanish lullabies that his mom used to sing to him. Not that he mentioned her often but it was enough for the siblings to know that it was an off-limit topic. They didn’t mind, after all, they didn’t talk about their mom all that much either. They couldn’t remember much or anything really

At first, Bianca was still wary of Leo. She wouldn’t leave Nico alone with him for too long and always made sure that he didn’t sleep over. When it turned out that Leo tended to get in quite a lot of trouble Bianca tried to separate her and her brother form him more. She didn’t mean it in a bad way of course; she just wanted to make sure that she and Nico were safe. Leo understood. He’d do the same if he had someone that close to him. But he didn’t. And so he couldn’t help it if he occasionally felt alone and scared at night in his dark and empty room at the Casino. He made sure that neither Nico nor Bianca ever saw that room. He’d filled it with drawings of senseless machines that made no sense; the small desk was covered in drawings of the same ship over and over again. He didn’t know what that ship was or why he had that itch to draw it but it felt important. The rest of his room was barren. Obviously, it was still glamorous it was a hotel room regardless of who lived in it but the walls were uncharacteristically singed and the bed frame was beginning to look more black and burned than brown. So, he simply made sure that neither sibling would ever even come close to the door of the room that was like a cage to Leo. A cage filled with ideas he didn’t understand and fire he didn’t want to see.

Bianca didn’t mind Leo anymore after spending some time with him. Sure he was loud and obnoxious but then he was also a 12-year-old child who was completely alone and desperate for attention and love. She couldn’t blame him for that. So she simply kept an eye on him and made sure he didn’t accidentally hurt Nico. That was all.

Then one day her view changed a little. They’d been walking down one of the many halls of the Casino in search of a new game to play for the three. Leo was avidly talking and gesturing explaining the moon landing in detail. Nico was laughing along and asking questions. Then he tripped. Usually, he would’ve gotten up again and Leo would’ve cracked a dumb joke. Not this time, though. When Nico hit the ground he fell right through the ground. Bianca panicked and screamed immediately running to the shadow Nico had disappeared into. She kept grabbing at the ground, the panic in her chest making it hard to breathe. She couldn’t see anymore, the tears making it hard and the shadow of the machine made it harder to. Leo grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him.

“Hey, Vieja,” He’d taken to jokingly calling her old woman some days ago and now the familiar nickname felt warm and comfortable, ”Stay here in case he comes back and I’ll look for him. Promise.” He smiled and got off the ground to look for Nico. She watched as he walked down the rest of the corridor.

Leo later found him lying on shadow-y part of his bed. Nico was passed out and Bianca had originally wanted to call the hospital but Leo had informed her that Nico was fine and that they wouldn’t be able to call anyone anyway. Leo had sat on the bed poked at Nico’s head until the former woke up, frowning and shivering. Bianca and Leo had spent the rest of the day hugging Nico close and Leo had told them stories about his mom’s workshop to keep their mind off things. That night, Bianca had allowed Leo to stay in their room because Nico kept shivering and Leo was like a furnace. She had to remind herself that Leo was not part of their family and that he was not her little brother.

Or at least that was what she tried convincing herself of. But Leo seemed keen on fixing that. So when one day he came up to her, grinning from ear to ear wearing singed clothing she couldn’t help but be worried.

“I made you something!” His accent had gotten less, much like her and Nico’s but it was still there. It was adorable.

“I saw this really pretty stone on one of the machines and it reminded me of your eyes! So I made you this.” He held out a necklace and a pair of earrings. The necklace was made of what seemed to be gold and in the middle of it hung a beautiful obsidian gem. The earrings were much the same. Bianca stared at them for a few seconds too long and Leo’s face fell quickly.

“You don’t have to take it if you don’t like it. I can just reuse it for something else or something.”

“No! No, I like it. It’s… God, it’s beautiful, Leo. How long did this take you?”

He shrugged, “A few hours.”

“I love it. Thank you.” He smiled again. Nodding he turned around and ran off to probably go find Nico at their room. She stood there admiring the beautiful necklace. She could see her reflection in it and it looked surprisingly alive, as though Leo had made it to look that way specifically. She wondered where he’d gotten the materials except the gem form. Probably stolen them if she had to guess. It didn’t make the present any less special though.

True to her guess, she found Leo and Nico sitting on Nico’s bed playing cards. Leo was loosing and whining but Nico didn’t seem to mind. He laughed along and poked fun at Leo for losing. It seemed comfortably domestic. Yes, she thought, she could live like this for a while longer. She sat at the desk and read a book while occasionally answering one of their questions or asking Leo about a word in her book. He did speak better English than her.


	2. Anybody out there, cause I don't hear a sound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please note that my timeline makes absolutely no sense whatsoever
> 
> also, there will be a lot more time passing between the seperate events than in the actual books so yeah there's that
> 
> Ages by the end of the chapter:  
Leo: 12  
Nico: 11  
Bianca: 15

“I win!” He grinned brightly as Leo’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He stuttered a bit but eventually gave up accepting his fate of loss once more. Nico turned to flop down on the bed. He could still hear Leo grumbling but it wasn’t mean spirited. Bianca sat across from them on the ground reading another book. Leo gave it to her, something about space probably. Nico liked this. He liked when he could sit with his sister and best friend. Yeah, Leo probably counted as his best friend. Nico wouldn’t change it for the world and he hoped that it never would. He didn’t have that luck.

There was loud knock on their door. Silence. Then, another one and one last knock before Bianca slowly stood up to open the door. When she did her shoulders stiffened. Nico couldn’t hear what she was saying until she turned to them.

“Leo, you need to leave.” He looked at her confusedly but her tone left no room for argument. He muttered a small ‘see you later’ to Nico and then vanished through the door. That was the last time Nico would see Leo.

“This is Ms. Harrington. She’s dad’s lawyer. She says that they found a new, permanent place to stay for us.” She tried to sound comforting but Nico could tell that that’s not how she felt at all.

“But I like it here.” He tried.

“I know, Nico so do I, but we can’t stay anymore.” He wanted to cry but he knew that crying never was and never would be an option. Not in this life. Maybe in the next one but he doubted it.

They left the next day. Nico had wanted to say goodbye to Leo but the lawyer had ushered them out of the building almost faster than he could pack his bags. The last thing he saw of the Lotus Casino was a small boy who looked a lot like Leo running around asking guests the same question over and over again. He looked heartbroken and Nico prayed that it wasn’t Leo. Bianca held his hand tighter than she had in a long time. He never wanted to let go. Never would.

Westover Hall not at all what Nico had hoped it would be. The building was everything the Lotus Casino hadn’t been. The walls were tall and black and covered in rows of big windows that only showed the miserable weather outside. The dorms weren’t much better either. Unlike in the hotel, the rooms were split between girls and boys and up to 5 kids slept in the same room. The thing that made Nico uncomfortable the most was that time passed painstakingly slowly. While he’d felt like he’d only spent a few months in the Lotus Casino he felt like he’d already spent several years at Westover Hall.

Bianca tried her best to make it better; she spent more time with Nico and even gave him the necklace Leo had made for her. She said that he’d wear the necklace and she’d wear the earrings that way they would neither forget about each other nor Leo. The thought had been comforting for a while but at night when the nightmares came and he was alone in the room with 4 other miserable boys even the necklace couldn’t fix it. It couldn’t sing him to sleep like Leo did and it couldn’t hold his hand the way Bianca did.

In the morning they would get up, eat breakfast and then go to class to learn about the things they’d missed in the past 70 odd years. At lunch, they’d quietly sit together and then classes would begin again. Curfew was right after dinner so that left no room for spending time together. Nico tried playing mythomagic alone since Bianca usually had longer and more classes than he did but playing alone was boring and it reminded Nico of the way life had been at their last boarding school.

That was Nico’s reality for one whole year. Two years filled with nightmares, disappearances and cold nights. The disappearances became more common as time went on. Nico would be walking and suddenly find himself somewhere else completely. He grew afraid of shadows quickly. He’d be afraid to go to bed at night and shiver his way through morning classes when the shadows seemed to be everywhere. He learned to recognize the feeling of his own body loosing all sense of what was around him, of his body becoming nothing more than a memory until he woke up again. He quickly learned to associate that feeling with panic and fear and breathlessness. He learned to be afraid of his body not being his own to control.

Bianca never talked about it but Nico could tell that similar things were happening. Her usual olive skin became pale and the shadows under her eyes grew by the day. Her skin became greyer than seemed healthy and her nails took on a dark tint. She looked like a ghost. When she was tired and angry she left cracks behind her in the ground. They were shallow and easily excusable but Nico noticed. He saw that her already dark eyes became darker until they were black and the light barely reflected in them anymore. It was quite literally that Nico could see the life leave her eyes when she was still alive. Nico didn’t want to think about it but Bianca was loosing more of herself every day that they spent in that school. He could understand. He felt the same way. Everyday, it felt like his body barely touched the ground. His body barely there and his mind stuck in a haze of fear and panic.

Bianca noticed. Of course, she did. She hugged him whenever she could and she took extra care to play games whenever she could. But that didn’t make it much better. It still felt like they were moving too fast without moving at all. Nico slept less and less, staying up and studying English in favor of lying in his bed that felt like a portal to everything he feared. He took to exploring the halls the same way they used to at the Lotus Casino but every time he did he was reminded of the lack of blaring lights and screaming of people winning prizes. He was reminded of the lack of exotic smelling food and conversations about space and pirates at ungodly hours because neither Nico nor Leo felt like sleeping. He was reminded of everything he wanted but couldn’t have.

Nico also, for the first time in decades celebrated his birthday. He turned 10 the first year and refused to celebrate the year after that. It had been a depressing celebration anyway. Bianca had tried to get him a cake but had only managed to find a cupcake that looked the months too old to be edible. She had sung happy birthday for him and then they’d gone back to class. School left no time for personal lives, much less happiness. No one had been invited to their small celebration. Not that anyone would’ve wanted to come. They didn’t have any friends at Westover Hall, after all, no one wanted to hang out with the weird kid who randomly disappeared and made the ground crack.

Then one day some new kids showed up. They wore orange camp T-shirt and looked incredibly out of place at the school. Things had felt out of place recently as it was, with the new principal and all that and now the new kids made it even weirder. Bianca had quickly ushered him to the main hall where the school dance was being held. He didn’t particularly want to be there but it was mandatory and Bianca was there so it wasn’t quite as bad as it could’ve been. That is, until the kids ruined everything. Ok to be fair, it wasn’t them who attacked Nico and Bianca but it might as well have been their fault.

Nico didn’t remember much, his mind had been filled with fear and a fight or flight instinct that told him to run until his legs gave out. Soon the new kids and a bunch of girls in hunting gear took enough Bianca and him outside. Nico was confused and scared and high on adrenaline, which was probably the only reason, why he hadn’t passed out yet. The guy with the dark hair and green eyes sat them down in the make-shift camp they had put up. Bianca had been taken to meet the girls much to Nico’s discomfort.

That was the day that Nico would insist was the reason for everything bad that happened after it.

So it turned out he’s a demigod and apparently that was dangerous. Great. Fantastic. Oh, and Bianca had decided to go off with the Hunters of Artemis? Whoever that was. Nico was angry and confused and if it were up to him he’d probably still be in the Lotus Casino laughing with Leo and his sister. Then it hit him, if Nico was a demigod then so was Leo. He was sure of it. He’d seen Leo accidentally set fire to his hands and hair without any damage. That had to be godly. He tried informing the other of this but they said that there was no time to get another demigod and that Leo would be safe in the Lotus Casino. That only added to make Nico’s day absolutely miserable.

“Nico, I have to go. I promise I’ll come back and I’ll see you again,” Bianca had tried to reassure him but it hadn’t particularly done anything to make him worry less.

“You have to promise! I don’t wanna be alone.” She nodded and gave him one last hug before leaving. That was it. Nico had also gotten Percy to promise him to bring Bianca back safely but then promises didn’t mean much apparently. After all, promises were nothing more than empty words and useless hopes. That was the day Nico realized that trusting and relying on others to keep their word was dumb. He wanted to hit himself for not seeing it sooner, why had he even thought that Percy would keep his word? He’d only known him for two days.

That day when Percy came back, Nico cried and screamed and damn near sent Percy in the after-life with Bianca. The skeletons that had appeared didn’t do anything to make Nico’s life any easier and he’d wished not for the first time that he’d died all those years ago with his mother. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to live through his sister’s death all alone.

Alone.

That was it, Nico thought as he grabbed his stuff from the Hermes cabin. He didn’t have to be alone. He could get Leo from the Casino and they could go off together. Nico wouldn’t have to face everything alone. He still had Leo after all.

At least, that’s what he wanted but his powers seemed to disagree.

Nico could feel his body slip away; he could feel it when he lost all sense of touch or direction. When his body felt weightless as he fell into the shadows. What was left of his senses was quickly replaced with panic. His chest felt tight and his throat hurt in a way that made Nico think he might die. His breaths became shorter and shorter. Nico scratched and tore at his arms, wanting, needing to feel something other than fear. His jaw hurt from clenching it so tightly but Nico wasn’t sure if he’d be able to unclench it. He felt lost and alone and scared of life almost as much as he was afraid of death. He wanted to scream but his throat wouldn’t let him, wouldn’t let him form a whisper much less a scream. So instead he took to grabbing at his face, wanting to make the pain, all of it, go away. It didn’t work. His throat only became tighter and tighter as his chest heaved with the effort of trying to breathe in. Nico was certain; that this was what dying must feel like.


	3. A million dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages by the end of the chapter:  
Leo: 12  
Nico: 12
> 
> changed some plot details because I seriously don't remember all that much
> 
> I based the fact that Leo smokes and drinks even though he's so young on my friends' experiences most of whom started drinking and smoking around that age. I'm not saying that it's good or okay but simply that this is my experience and I found it fitting. I admit that I'm more used to the idea because where I live you can literally legally drink beer at 14 and buy it at 16 so maybe that's just me being weird idk.  
I figured I'd say it here just in case someone is uncomfortable that, you have been warned.
> 
> Either way, enjoy.

Nico found himself in surrounded by identical-looking walls only illuminated by torches. The halls were empty save for the occasional rat that scurried across the ground. Nico looked around, still not completely out of the haze he’d felt when he dropped through the shadows earlier. He was trying to get to his feet when a man appeared in front of him, close enough to push Nico back on the ground. The man smiled menacingly and Nico realized that something about him looked off. Perhaps it was his translucent face or weird choice in clothing. Either way, he made Nico uncomfortable.

“A son of Hades! Good, that’s perfect!”

“Get off me and let me go,” Nico said sternly. He didn’t know what the ghost man was talking about but Nico was not going to stay to figure it out. Not today.

“No, I don’t think I will.”

“I don’t care. Leave me alone.”

“I can teach you how to use your powers. Randomly disappearing must be an inconvenience, no?” Nico hesitated. The man didn’t look threatening but Nico was also taught not to trust anyone. Especially not creepy old men in weird alleys.

“Where am I?” He asked instead.

“The Labyrinth. Pesky place, very hard to navigate but I can help with that as well.” The more the man talked the more he gave Nico an uncomfortable feeling. People who were willing to do this much without asking for anything in return were never good news.

“I’ll manage. I don’t need your help.” He said and began walking in the opposite direction.

“Then how about I’ll tell you where your little friend is? Leo was his name?”

“I know where he is.”

“Ah but you don’t. He left the Lotus Hotel a few months ago.”

“What do you want in return?”

“Nothing for now. See it as a favor.”

And with that began Nico’s unfortunate adventure through the Labyrinth.

The ghost man, or Minos as he liked to call himself, led him through the labyrinth occasionally protecting him from the many dangers it offered. They left it a few times to run errands for Minos. Once Nico managed to get away for long enough to visit his father in the underworld. He’d begged him to bring Bianca back. Hades had told him that he had to exchange a soul for a soul. He’d stayed in the underworld a few more days but then left to go to the Labyrinth again. Minos hadn’t been happy about his absence in the least. He tried to force Nico to talk, reveal more about himself. It didn’t work. Nico was not dumb enough to reveal too much about himself to a random homicidal ghost. No sir he was not that dumb. Yet anyways.

Minos was, in the beginning, completely focused on teaching Nico how to use his abilities, which worked sometimes better and sometimes worse. With Nico being afraid of shadows and the dark and Minos being horrible at giving instructions it was really no surprise that Nico ended up shadow traveling to China and Russia a couple of times in the beginning and later in walls. Minos found this funny, Nico not so much. Getting out of walls was harder than expected and a lot more panic-inducing than Nico would’ve liked. He was beginning to think that maybe he should just kill Minos and get this whole thing over with. Then he remembered that he didn’t have a weapon. Just a little bit longer then he could find Leo and they could figure things out together. Yeah, that sounded nice.

In between training and defending Minos kept nagging at Nico, asking him about the world now, making racist comments that Nico really didn’t want to hear and would’ve rather died than to repeat those to anyone. Mino was sick and the longer Nico stayed around him the more Nico awaited the day where he could get rid of him.

It dragged on for days, then weeks filled with panic attacks and screaming from Minos. Nico dearly hoped that he would end up in Tartarus once he got rid of him.

They’d been training for three weeks now and Minos had finally deemed Nico ready to leave.

“Not so quick, you still have to pay me back don’t you?”

“What do you want?” Minos smiled and leaned into Nico’s personal space.

“I need you to kill someone for me. Daedalus to be specific.”

“No.”

“You don’t have a choice. I taught you now you have to pay me back!”

“Promises don’t have meaning. Remember that.” Nico said and turned to find one of the many exits. Suddenly a hand grabbed the back of his throat.

“Not so fast boy. You leave when I say so. You will kill Daedalus for me.”

He grabbed Minos’ hand and twisted it away, “Don’t fucking touch me,” He used all his will power to use what Minos had taught him, how to send a soul back to the underworld. Minos began screaming violently thrashing in Nico’s hold. Slowly his souls began seeping out of his body and into the air where it vanished into nothingness. Left was nothing more than the echo of Minos’ screams.

Satisfied Nico brought his hand down and wiped it at his pants. A wave of exhaustion came over him and he felt his body hit the wall faster than he could act. His last thought was of Leo before he passed out completely.

Nico cursed when he woke up with a major headache. He opened his eyes to find that not only was it raining but it was also really fucking cold and apparently night. A few drops of rain made their way onto his face and he had half a mind to just fall back asleep wherever he was. That was until he realized where he was. He’d landed in the middle of the street. Great. Nico slowly got off the ground and onto the sidewalk not yet being ready to be run over. Maybe one day but not today. He looked around hoping to recognize something. He didn’t.

On his left was an apartment building where more people lived than Nico had friends although that really wasn’t all that hard he realized. However, one of the names on the doorbells stood out. ‘Jameson’, Minos had mentioned the name several times. Nico had assumed that it was some other kid who’d wandered into the labyrinth but now he was starting to think that maybe that was where Leo was. Nico did have a tendency to shadow travel to where he felt safe when he was tired and Leo was probably the last place on earth where Nico could feel safe.

Deciding that if he rung the doorbell he’d have no explanation, he made his way around the building to see if there was a fire escape he could climb. Once he found one he climbed the stairs all the way to the 6thfloor. Once there he was happy to find that whoever lived there had left the window open. Not that breaking in would’ve been that much harder. Nico was about to climb through the window when he heard screaming. The screaming actually only consisted of one person yelling something incoherent. He considered going inside to see who was dying but eventually decided against it, again not having an explanation in case someone found him.

Nico stayed on the fire escape for longer than he cared to admit. After what seemed liked forever someone walked into the room. Carefully, he maneuvered so that he would be able to see who came into the room. Nico wasn’t sure whether to be happy or heartbroken when he saw Leo standing in the room with a giant bruise across his face. He watched as Leo walked to his bed and grabbed the pillow, crying into it. Nico wanted to move but he couldn’t bring himself to. What would he say? Would Leo still remember him? Did he even want to remember him? Surely Leo would be angry with him for leaving without saying goodbye four years ago. He made up his mind when he saw Leo pull out a pack of cigarettes from under his pillow. No matter how angry Leo would be at Nico, he would not let Leo fall further into hell. Where had he even gotten those?  
Nico climbed through the window and awkwardly stood in front of Leo. It took him a few seconds to realize that the person standing in front of him as not his foster parent but in fact Nico. When he did his eyes grew three times their size and his mouth opened as if to speak but no words came out. He dropped the pack of cigarettes he’d been holding.

“Oh god, please tell this isn’t a dream…” He mumbled to no one in particular. When Nico shook his head Leo reached out a hand to grab at his arm. Nico let him and when Leo found him to be real he let himself be pulled into a bone-crushing hug. He wound his arms around Leo’s back to make sure he wouldn’t fall.

“I thought I’d never see you again, you just left and I- I thought you hated me- I- “

Nico hugged him tighter, “Gods Leo, I would never hate you. I wanted to say goodbye but they wouldn’t let me.”

“Why’d you leave? I was so alone,” Nico’s heart shattered at that. He never wanted Leo to feel alone. Not if he could prevent it.

“I’m sorry, Leo,” He grabbed his face, ”Look at me. I’m here. I’m not leaving again, not without you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” And for the first time in years, Nico felt like those words meant something.

Leo let go of him, but not completely just enough to look at him. Leo had changed, his hair was a little longer, his face was now covered in bruises and Nico could see more on his arms.

“You’re taller than I remember. Last time I saw you, you were shorter than me.” Nico smiled, Leo was right. Ever since he left the Lotus Casino he’d grown almost 20cm and he was now a proud 1,56m tall. It wasn’t very much but it made him almost 10cm taller than Leo. After all, in those four years, they hadn’t seen each other. Nico had aged, Leo had not.

“I’m also older now.”

“Weren’t you always though, old man?”

“Yeah, but now I also look older.” Leo laughed and flicked Nico’s forehead.

“You’ll see, one day I’ll be taller than you. Just you wait!”

“In your dreams.”

Leo’s eyes went from Nico’s face to the rest of him to see any more differences. His eyes landed on the necklace around his neck.

“You have my necklace,” His face grew serious, “Where’s Bianca?” Nico stepped back to the window. He needed fresh air if he was going to tell Leo that his other best friend was gone.

“She left.” It was silent for a few seconds and Nico could practically see the gears turning in Leo’s head.

“She’s not coming back is she?”

“No, she isn’t.” Leo didn’t pity him and Nico didn’t want him to. He just didn’t want to be alone.

“Where were you all those years?”

Nico smiled sadly, “A lot of places. You would’ve liked some of them, I’m sure.”

“Tell me then, “ _Take me with you_, was left unsaid. They both knew it.

“First I was at this boarding school right after we left. I didn’t like it there you wouldn’t have either. It was too depressing. No one would play mythomagic with me.” Leo laughed, “After that, we went to this summer camp. That’s when Bianca left. I ran away that day. After that, I’m not sure how long I was in that Labyrinth. It felt like a few months but it could’ve been longer.”

“When did you arrive there?”

“December 19th, 2006.”

“That was two years ago, today.” Nico made a small ‘Oh’ noise but didn’t say more. Next to him Leo sighed and turned to look at the door as if he expected it to open at any given moment. It didn’t but that didn’t make the scared look on Leo’s face go away.

“What happened, Nico? I barely recognize you and I wish I could say that in a good way.” Leo tried to make the last part sound happy but it came out brokenly.

“So much, Gods, so much happened and I don’t know if I want to force you into it as well.”

“It can’t be worse than life right now.”

He let his head drop, not being able to look at Leo when trying to explain to him that the world was out to kill him and that that was all their parents’ fault.

“The gods are real, you know? The Greek ones I mean. Turns out they like humans so much they have kids with them. I’m one of those kids, you are too I think. Congratulations I guess.” He paused, “There’s a camp for them. They have cabins and you’re separated based on your godly parent but they don’t have one for my dad. I don’t belong there.” When Leo didn’t say anything Nico just continued, “I should take you there. You’ll be safe. You’ll have a family there. Maybe I’ll visit you once in a while.”

“I don’t think I’d like it there without you. I’d rather go where you go.”

“Are you sure? They have pretty big forges there.”

“I’d make do wherever we’d go.” Leo smiled, “That’d be something, right? Us, traveling the world I mean. Nothing could stop us. We’d be free to do whatever we wanted. A nice dream, I’m sure.”

“It doesn’t have to be a dream. We- I can take you. Wherever you want to go. Just say it and we’ll go.”

“In another world maybe. Not this one. This one doesn’t fulfill dreams.” Despite his sad words the smile never left Leo’s face.

“We could be happy, Leo.”

“Just seeing you here made me happy. I think that will be enough. I’ll remember that you’re alive when you leave and that will keep me going,” Nico turned from the sky to watch Leo instead, “I’ll go back into that living room and you’ll disappear. I’ll remember our dreams, I’ll be happy just knowing that you haven’t forgotten me.”

“But it doesn’t have to be. I can take you away right now. Grab your things and we’ll disappear together. You don’t have to go back into that living room.”

“But then what will we do? We’ll climb down the fire escape and even if she doesn’t see me, I don’t have any money and the police will look for me.” Nico didn’t dare ask who she was but he knew that if he ever met her she’d be dead before she could ask who he was.

“Leo, I learned to control it. The disappearing I mean. I can go wherever I want as long as there’s a shadow. We don’t need money. Not the normal kind.”

“I hate that you’re giving me hope for a better life. I want to believe you but I can’t bring myself to. I can’t bring myself to think that I could leave here.”

“Leo-“

“You know, the first thing that happened when I left the Casino was that the police took me in. I wouldn’t tell them my name, so they gave me one. Then they gave me to her. She was nice, in the beginning. I think she just didn’t want to be alone, but being around me was somehow worse. It always is, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think it is. When we left, Bianca, she gave me the necklace because I missed you and she said if I had it I’d never be away from you completely. And now I can be around you for real. Leo, please let me take you away from here. I don’t know what she’s doing but I can’t let you stay with her.” Nico could see that Leo wanted to answer but was interrupted by a woman calling his name loudly. Not his real name, but Nico knew that she meant Leo.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Leo nodded and went to grab a duffle bag. He filled it with some clothes, a notepad, a pen, a tool belt and a pack of cigarettes. Nico didn’t say anything about the latter but made a mental note to throw them away when he got the chance. He took Leo’s arm and walked to the corner of the room where the shadow was big enough to fit both of them.

“Close your eyes.” He did and Nico sent them on their way.


End file.
